Improved flour-packer



SlLAS HEWl'l`,OF SENECA FALLS VILLAGE, NEW YORK.

Letters .Patent No. 77,374, dated April 28, 1868.

IMPROVED' PLOUR-PAGKBR.

ilge Stlgemle tfrnth tu in these tettersfntntt :mi mating niet nt ftlgc simu.

'ro ALL Wnoru I'r MAY GONCERN:

Bc it known that I, SILAS IlEWI'r, ofthevillage of Seneca Falls, in the county of Seneca, and State vof New York, have invented a new and useful. Improvement-in the Mode of Packipg Flour, Salt, and like substances, in barrels' or casks, for containingthe same in u suitable condition for preservation and transport, by

mechanical appliances. A

The molle'heretofore employed to effect this purpose by mechanical means hasbceil by the application of pressure upon the material vto be packed, and various devices have been used for pressing the material inthe barrel or-eask'; but itis the case with flour especially, packed by pressure directly upon it, that its quality is deteriorated thereby, and itis never found, en opening a barrel thus packed, iu as free and goodcondition aswhe'n irst ground, but is oftenadhered so as to break up in lumps.

In my invention I haveadopted the principle frequently employed by inanualfl'orcevtosettlo together fleur und other substances in'bags by jolting the bags and contents up and down.

The nature of my invention lconsists in the'practical applicationv ofthis printipleto the largerepmation of packing in barrels andicasks by mechanical devices,` in whichuapiplicatidn theforlcxezproduced bythb combined weight and motion, or, in other words, the momentum of'the several particles :of the material, isniadeactive to bring them into closer 'Contact by means of sudden interruptions. This Ie'eetbythe mechanism combined and arranged by me for that purpose, which communicates to the 'barrel orv caSkcOntaining and receivingL `the flour' or other substance a continued series of movements up and down, which are suddenly' arrested at eaclrdeseent,

while the substance is being received therein,iand'unti llthe operation is completed'. FlourA thus packed,docs'notv adhere together 'and break up into lumps, but is found; on openingthe barrel, as free from adhesiones when first ground. j 1.,".

I have adopted the vertical motion iri preference to'motion in a lateral or other:directiornfund the use of a. cam-wheel to produce such motion, 4in preference to other` mechanical agents, as heingthe moist simple and effective. v i

The nature of my invention, therefore, consists in combining Ya machinein such manner' as to practically employ the above-stated principle in packing' ilour,'salt, and other like substances, by mechanism; endl do hereby declare that the following is a. full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation' of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thi`s-speciiicntion, in which the same letters of reference are used to denote these-me parts in each figure, and in nhich Figure 1 is a perspective View,

Figure 2 a longitudinal elevation, and

Figure 3 a longitudinal section of the shaft E and-follower D; l v

A B C is a frame for the machine, (to be used in circumstances where a fraaie is required.)4 It may be made of plank and put together as-machine-frames usually are. The cross-pieces H and I 'are firmly secured. to the sides A and C, as shown, and may be at'any convenient distanccnpart, and from the top B, which top hasra mortise through its centre, (shown atv, fig'. 2,) which is about four inches square; andcorresponding therewith in'a vertical direction,'arc the mortises and m2l through the cross-pieces I and H, wliich are of like size. The shaft E is of such size as to t the several mortisesV, m, and m2, which form guides torpreserve its perpendicular direction, but so as to move freely up and down.

' I sometimes provide friction-rollers,` fixed inthe sides of these mortisesv in the usualmanner, one of which is shown at K. I also usually employ a friction-roller set in the lower end of the shaft E, which projects so as to bear upon the cams.

These friction-rollers are not absolutely necessary, and when it is found convenient to dispense with the friction-roller o, in the end of the shaft E, I replace it by a metallic shoe of such shape as to ft the incline of the cams.

The shaft E has the follower D firmly fastenedupon it at its upper end, the follower being a dat round disk, about'sixteen inches in diameter, with the shaft at its centre, and at right angles to its leiver surface. rIt may be constructed of wood ormetal, but must be ofsuch thickness that when it rests on the top, B, the chinos of a barrel resting on the follower will not strike against the top, B. The shaft E is ofsuch length that its lower end, when the` follower rests on the top, B, shall reach to within about half an ineh of theouter rim el' the cam-wheel at the point where that wheel has the least radius, so that it shall notv strike the cam-wheel when it falls from the cams.

The driving-shaft P has its bearings R and Rz. It is ahout'two inches in diameter, and has theiixed pulley N2 and the loose pulley n on the projecting end, as shown, and if the machine is te be turned by hand, the crank7 W, is fixed on this shaft, as shown. i l' The cam-wheel G is keyed on the shaft P, at the middle of the distance between the sides A and C of thc frame, so as to be directly belenr the lower end of the shaft E, and the horizontal drivingshaft l? is so placed, as to its height, as to give the relative distance between the cam-wheel G atits least radius 4and-the end of the shaft E above stated. The cam-wheel Gr has` two cams, 2:, opposite each other, vwhich-rise on a regular curve from the point where the radius is at least two and a half inchesor-thcreabout to thc end-of' tlie cam. The

greatest radius of thc cam-wheel Gr is about nine inches from -the centre, and the' least radius about six and a half inches. y,

To save the labor of separate weighing, and facilitateA fillingxthe barrel S with flour or other substance te be packed therein, I combine sometimes the receiver T, constructed in the shape of aninverted truncated eene. suspended by an ordinary scale-beam, which has for its Support the standardzZ; This receiver has snmcient capacity to contain the full amount required for-a single packing, which amount is weighed therein and dropped into the barrel or cask represented at S by means ot' a valve in Vits bottom operated by the" arm 3/ as fast-als required. v I y l i The operation of `the above-described machine .is as follows: v The barrel or cask to be filled and packed. has, as isusual, one head taken out;` it is first setuprigh-t, with the head which remains in thc barrel resting on the follower D, and is nearly filled from the' receiver T, when'.

the camwheel G being s et in motion, the, camsacting upon the lower'end of tho'sllaft E, raise the barrel h5' thel shaft and. follower about two inches, and let it fall, the follower stepping upon the top, B,fproducng a sudden jar in the material conta-ined in the barrel. This occursl twice at-each` revolution of the cam-wheel, the material being supplied from the receiver until the' operation is complete.

I do not claim-any of the separate parts of the machine described as new and of my invention.

What Ivclaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,vv is- The combination of the weighingn-eceivler T, provided with its hinged bott-ou1,tlic vertical shaft E, follower D, and cam G-,'all constructed, arranged, und operated substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

Witnesses:

C. L. Hoskins, BENSON OWEN. 

